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Quinoa

I served this as a side dish with grilled chicken. My husband wants to eat greens but he does not actually LIKE greens… so I find ways to disguise them. This was perfect. I used Rainbow Swiss Chard but you could use spinach, too. This is a great way to use up leftover quinoa.

Dressing

Combine peanut butter and water in a small bowl. You may need more water, should be a smooth paste. Add honey and stir to mix well. Microwave for about 15-30 seconds or until soft and easy to stir.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pan. Add the red pepper and sauté until tender. Add the greens and stir until wilted. Add pine nuts and quinoa, stir well. Add the peanut butter and honey mixture to the mixture and mix well to coat. Remove from heat and serve warm or cold.

I love Quiche. I especially love the pastry crust that goes along with quiche but I have to say this was a wonderful way to eat quiche. I made a kale salad to go along with it. I will make this again with different fillings also. This was adapted from cooking light recipe. I used smoke gouda in place of feta (and used more cheese) because, well. Just because. I also added some cheese to the crust. This was an easy weeknight meal.

Ingredients

CRUST:

2 cups cooked quinoa, chilled

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 large egg, beaten

FILLING:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 (5-ounce) bag baby spinach

1/2 cup 1% low-fat or skim milk

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

5 large eggs

3/4 cup smoked or regular Gouda, shredded

Method

For the crust, preheat oven to 375°.

Combine quinoa, salt, pepper, cheese and egg in a bowl, stirring well. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9″ pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes; cool.

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The roadside farm stands are open! On my walk the other day I stopped to pick up sweet corn (peaches and cream), Vidallia onions, yellow and green zuchinni, tomatoes and red peppers. I decided it called for a healthy sort of stir fry. I chopped up some tofu, roasted the tomatoes and with a little Balsamic glaze to drizzle on top I threw this together and served over quinoa. Your could substitute chicken or shrimp for the tofu as well. I roasted the tomatoes and stir fried the squash and pepper but you could also roast all the veggies.

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chopped tomatoes on a sheet of tinfoil, drizzle with olive oil – about 1-2 tablespoons, sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and roast until juicy, about 15-20 minutes. Set aside, saving any of the juice.

While tomatoes are roasting heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (depending on size of onion) in a large pan. Add onions and cook slowly until golden, about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl slice corn kernels off the cob. In a large pan heat a teaspoon of oil and cook corn until just warmed and getting a bit caramelized. Set aside.

In same large pan add red pepper and zucchini, cook until just tender remove from pan and mix in with corn and tomatoes.

Heat another tablespoon or so of olive oil and add the tofu. I add a little soy sauce to help brown and give extra flavor. Brown all sides of tofu. When tofu is nice and brown, add the veggies back in to warm everything.

Serve over a bed of rice, couscous or quinoa. Drizzle with Balsamic glaze. You can make your own or use a bottle.

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My wonderful mother, who taught me how to cook, is always on the lookout for recipes I might like. She found this on the Chew and I did my own version of it. This is great as a vegetarian main meal with a salad. We warmed up the leftovers for lunch the next day. You could add a lot of different ingredients like roasted grape tomatoes, onions or swiss chard. If you want to go vegetarian you can leave out the egg. The recipe did not call for it but I added as a binder.

Ingredients:

1 large spaghetti squash

1 cup cooked Quinoa

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cub bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down in a baking dish. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the baking dish, cover with foil and bake until tender, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred with a fork and place in a large bowl

Spray a large sauté pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add the squash mixture and press into a pancake using a spatula. Allow to cook until golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. I covered the pan for about half the time. Place a large plate over the pan and invert the pancake onto the plate and slide back into the pan. Cook on the other side until golden brown, about another 5 minutes. Slide onto a large plate. Cut into wedges.

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I came up with this recipe because I needed to clean out the fridge and I wanted something for dinner that did not involve turkey. I has some sweet potatoes and squash leftover so I just made this up as I went along. It is vegetarian but you can use real Chorizo as well. Butternut Squash would be good in this as well as a red pepper.

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium (1 lb.) sweet potato cubed

1 large sweet yellow onion, sliced thin

1 small Delicata squash peeled and cut (optional)

1 package Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo

1 (15 oz.) can black beans

1 can diced fired roasted salsa style tomatoes

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup white quinoa, cooked

INSTRUCTIONS

Peel and dice the sweet potato (and squash) into ½ to ¾ inch cubes. Sauté the sweet potato cubes in a large skillet with olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes have softened about half way through.

Add the onions and cook until tender.

Take Soy Chorizo out of its casing and put into a separate skillet. Sauté over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces as it browns.

Rinse and drain the black beans. Add the black beans and tomatoes to the sweet potato/onion mixture. Stir gently to combine.

Add in the cooked Soy Chorizo.

Cover and simmer on low for 5-10 minutes.

While the mixture is simmering, cook Quinoa according to directions.

Add in the cheese and stir to combine with the squash mixture.

Spoon quinoa into a large bowl and ladle squash mixture over it and sprinkle with additional cheese

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We are not vegetarians but we eat healthy when we can. I was not sure about using the fake Chorizo and bought it on a whim but was totally happy with this meal. You don’t have to use Soy, and real Chorizo would work fine as well. We made this twice last week…

Cook quinoa according to directions. I used vegetable broth instead of water for a bit richer taste.

Coat the meaty side of the squash with coconut oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven on 400 degrees until fork tender — probably about 35 – 40 minutes.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook onions until golden and caramelized, stirring frequently. About 25-20 minutes.

Remove casing and cook Chorizo in a skillet with a little oil or spray pan with Pam. Since it does not have the fat you have to watch it closely to keep from burning. Break it up with your spoon. Add in onions, cheese and quinoa.

Stuff the squash with the stuffing and roast in the oven at 375 for an additional 20 minutes. Serve immediately.